AN: I apologize for how long it has taken me to update! Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Chapter 6
Beautiful and extravagant. Those were the two words that ran through Obi-Wan Kenobi's mind as he looked around the theater. The red carpet was blush and rich, a softness he could feel even through his thick soled boots. The lighting seemed to cast a golden glow over everything, making the intricate gold trim on the walls seem to glitter. The whole building seemed like a palace.
The beings there only enhanced this. There were beings of all species, human, humanoid and alien. However, all were dressed elegantly, often in clothing from their homeworlds. Human males were wearing suits while the women were wearing evening gowns. They made Obi-Wan aware that he stood out. He found himself starting to doubt that he was doing the right thing. First, he was not dressed properly and when undercover, Jedi were not supposed to stand out. Second, he saw many beings, but not Siri. He had gone in through the front door and he was sure he had seen the speeder Siri was in turn off, but he had been uncertain. He also felt bad because he had not paid to get in. He knew it was wrong, but he was not sneaking in to see whatever the others were here to see. With just one brush of a Jedi mind trick, he was able to sneak in.
Now, he was hoping he could find Siri. How could she be sneaking out of the Temple? And for what purpose? Nothing was making sense. It continued to confuse him as he entered a large auditorium with plush seats the same color as the red carpeting, but the fabric was thicker and very soft. An usher handed him a program and he scanned through it. A ballet? Now he was wondering if he was in the right place. What would Siri be doing at a ballet? Then his mind went back to the ribbon hanging out of the bag. Could that have been to ribbon to one of those ballet shoes?
Obi-Wan shook his head. This was impossible. Siri did not even know how to dance, let alone dance well enough to make it into this company. He turned to leave, but then the lights started to dim going to half power and the orchestra started to play.
An usher gave him a harsh look and motioned for him to sit down, so he found an open seat and sat down, hoping that the owner of it would not come. He knew what he had done before was wrong and even though he was a Jedi, he could get into trouble.
Squinting with the limited lighting, he read the program, hoping to gain some insight as to what was occurring. The ballet was based off of a popular legend from Alderaan, involving lovers torn apart by war and then reunited. After the brief summary, there was a list of all the scenes which listed where each was taking place and gave a brief summary of what happened in each of these scenes. Obi-Wan had only gotten to the fourth scene when the lights dimmed the rest of the way and for a moment all was dark. The orchestra continued to play and the curtain slowly rose, revealing what looked like a field. The audience applauded for a few moments and then the sound died down as the first dancer stepped onto stage.
Since he had read the description, he knew that this was when citizens in the kingdom came together to hear from the king. From there, he would announce a war, and the princess would be torn apart from her love, an officer. It helped show why the people on Alderaan were against war.
While he was not usually a fan of things like this, he had to admit, he was impressed by the dancers. Even the younger dancers were very capable of the choreography they had. He tried to follow all that happened on stage and even though there were no words, he could almost feel as if he were there.
When some teenage dancers stepped on stage, his eyes immediately went to them. There were five females and three males, all who were humans. Obi-Wan looked at all of them and then his gaze fell on the one of the girls. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't place why. She was dressed as the other girls, all wearing black leotards, but with different colored skirts that fell past their knees. However, they were loose enough to dance in.
There were binoculars in front of each seat that could be rented. He was lucky enough to have change and he slid the coins in and got out the binoculars. However, then he was unable to find the girl again. He sighed, but continued to watch. He would see her again.
The first number ended and this time Obi-Wan applauded with the others. It had been a great start and he found that he was enjoying himself and the story and even found the dancing between the officer and the princess was amazing, and they made it look effortless. Their body language was able to convey their feelings and he was able to see these emotions on their faces as well.
When the lovers were pulled apart and the officer was forced to march through a rough terrain that seemed to be covered in shadows, which seemed to be alive. From these shadows came the five females again, dressed in leotards of dark green, with skirts made of a few layers of sheer colored fabric which were also different shades of green. They had streamers of green and black in the hands, incorporated smoothly into the dance
While Obi-Wan knew he should be paying attention to the main male character, the officer, but he found his attention drawn to a girl again. The same one as before. She was dressed as the others and she also had her hair pulled back into a bun. Her makeup was darkened around her eyes to give her a darker look. She was moving like the rest of the girls, the dance looking flawless as they moved around officer, acting as the shadows and the demons that lurked there, separating him from his troops.
When the girl he was watching came to the center, Obi-Wan got a better look at her through the binoculars and his mouth dropped open in shock. All it had taken was one glance to see the blue eyes of Siri Tachi. Siri was dancing in this, the most exclusive and renounced ballet company in the Republic. He couldn't fathom it. He watched her perform jumps and intricate movements with relative ease. With her hair pulled back and the costume, she looked like she belonged there, dancing with the other girls.
When the scene was over and the applause rose then fell, Obi-Wan was still in shock. The lights came up then, which meant it was intermission. When he finally shook himself out of state of shock he was in, he started to look through his program with a clear purpose.
He skipped over the scene listing and saw the class listings. He came to one that had eight names, three male and five female. Next to their names were the dances they were in. His blue eyes scanned down the list, and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw the final name on the list. Siri Tachi.